Cloth-inspecting machine



March 27, 1928. 1,664,368

A. C. MASON CLOTH INSPECTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 29. 1925 2 Sneemsheer 1 March 27, 1928.

A.c.MAsQN CLOTH INSPECTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 29 lga vl/Ewan' Patented Mar. 27, 1928.

UNITED STATES ARTHUR C. MASON, OF HAWTHORNE, NEW JERSEY.

CLOTH-INSPECTNG MACHINE.

Application tiled August 29, 1925. Serial No. 58,224.

The object of this invention is to provide an apparatus affording certain advantages in the examining and simultaneous measuring of fabrics heretofore lacking in apparatus of that class. In the present apparatus the 'fabric is wound up on one beam, which is suitably driven, and unwound from another beam subject to the pull emanating from the iirst beam, extending from one beam to the other in an upright condition, with the result that little iioor space is required and the light `is available to best advantage iior examining the goods. For as* sistance in examining, a llate or table is arranged opposite an uprig `t part of the mov ing fabric, and this plate or table affords at one side, as its bottom, a straight-edge or guide around which the fabric extends in a bend so as to assist in keeping it distended laterally and tensioned, and the plate or table is adjustable pivotally on an axis extending horizontally and parallel with the fabric so that it may be set at different angles according to the light conditions or according to the requirements of the goods that are undergoing examination; the table may also have at its opposite side another straight-edge or guide around which the fabric may also be extended in a bend under certain conditions so as also to assist in keep ing it distended laterally and tensioned. The measuring mechanism is constructedso as vto insure `accurate measuring while the goods is being advanced for ins ection, and so as to distend the goods and 1n that way and otherwise, "as will appear, to prevent creases from being formed therein.

In the drawings.

i Fig. l is a front elevation of the improved apparatus; 6

ig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 illustrates a detail involving rollers fw and m; and

Figs. i and 5 show the upper part of the apparatus in perspective with the examining plate or table and the fabric arranged in positions other than as illustrated in Figs. l and 2, Fig. i also showin a modification in respect to the position on the fabric supply means.

The frame of the machine includes two uprights a secured together by a cross-brace b and a tie-rod c, the latter of which is at the top of the uprights.

At the front of the frame are brackets d to support the head-stock e and tail-stock f the former of which is journaled and may be driven through suitable gearing (not shown) from a motor g mounted on the frame and subject to the control of a oot treadle Zt. The receiving beam 'i has the gudgeon at one end thereof entered into the headstock in a Way to be rotated thereby when the head-stock is itself rotated and its other gudgeon journaled in the tail-stock, which may be adjusted toward and from the head-stock, according to the len th of the beam, by manipulating a hand screw The :fabric A, advanced by the beam z' as it is Wound up thereon, extends down under a measuring roller (to be described) and then up over the tie-rod c and then down to the suppl beam c which may be journaled in suitab e bearings Z on brackets Z pro jectinv rearwardly from the frame or in stub-siaft ZL adjustable toward and from each other by manipulatin hand screws m. This arrangement of the iabric, Whereb it stands u right, greatly economizes oor space an places the fabric in a position where the light is best available for examining the goods.

While the fabric is being advanced from the beam. 7c to the beam i it is of great advantage in the inspecting ot' the same to provide a background thus to facilitate observing the defects, whether in the Weaving orin the form of spots on the goods, it beingunderstood that very frequently the goods are sheer or partially transparent. It is also very desirable that the element orniing this background shall be adjustableso as not only to` suit persons of different height but according to the light conditions. 'Therefore I provide a table or plate n which is rectangular and quite wide relatively to its length and which is pivoted in the frame on an axis parallel with, and extending transversely of the path of travel of, the fabric, or in the present case horizontally. In some cases it may be desirable to form this table or plate of transparent material, but usually it will be of opaque material, such.` as Wood. For its su port it has two opposite brackets o pivote on studs p pro jecting inwardly from the uprights a, and the brackets may be segments having arcuate slots 0' receiving manually operated clamping devices q. Thus the table may be set at anydesirable angle. An important function ofrthis table is to afford at its lower edge a guide or straight edge u (it being actually straight in the present eX- ample) which normally maintains a bend in the fabric A as shown'in Fig. 2,the effect of which is to keep the fabric smooth and prevent wrinkles which might otherwise be formed therein from being developed into creases or folds when the fabric passes around the measuring roller.

In the use of the apparatus as shown inl Figs. land 2 the part A. of the fabric actually undergoing inspection (or directly opposite the table) is considerably spaced therefrom and thetable stands more or less upright. In some cases it may be desirable to have the part A approximately horizontal-and close to the table. Therefore, I provide a guide rod r at the upper edge of the table and spaced therefrom, the same being preferably carried in brackets s which vare adjustable around horizontal pivots t and adapted to be secured in any position of adjustment by hand nuts .u screwed on the studs forming the pivots z?. In this case, as shown in Fig. 4., the supply beam 1 is preferably arranged in bearings o at the top of the frame and the vfabric then extends over the bar c down under the bar r and then over and around the lower edge of the table.

Fig. shows an arrangement in which the fabric, instead. of extending over the bar c, extends directly over the table.

While the fabric Ais being advanced and inspected it is measured lineally and in order to accomplish this result with accuracy I `pass it between'two rollers which coact to exert Vpressure thereon/andL are free to rotate by frictional contact therewith, one being in gearv with a clock or equivalent indicator; these rollers are preferably placed close to the beam i sothat the possible'stretch in the goods is reduced to the minimum and hence the measurement indicated will be as true as possible. To obtain good .frictional Contact between the fabric and rollers one roller is journaled in fixed bearings and the other in bearings yieldingly urged toward the other, the former being'preferably provided with some yielding covering substance as felt.

The yielding-surfaced roller is indicated at lw,`.being journaled in fixed bearings w on the frame; the other roller, is journaled iii-bearings mmovable in the frame and spring-held .(Fig. 3) toward the roller lw. The fabric A extends down under and around-the roller fw and between it and the roller w, and with the measuring roller provided with a yielding surface and the other roller pressed against the same yieldingly the former will be rotated without slippage of the fabric with respect thereto. The roller w is connected by suitable gearing z/ with any desired indicator or clock .e for indicating the yardage of fabric that passes the rollers.

It is important, especially where the goods is very thin and delicate, to provide means to keep it laterally distended or at the same width when wound on the receiving beam as `ithas on the supply beam, and also without creases due either to the selvages approaching each other or to the presence of local bulges which frequently exist in the goods and which inpassing between the two rollers would be worked out into creases. I therefore provide the roller nl, which may otherwise be of a hard substance such as metal, with upstanding flat ribs of yielding material, such as felt, which may be cemented thereto, these ribs or strips being arranged in right and left long or steeply pitched spirals around the roller so that each two ribs (one right-hand and the other lefthand) converge midway the length ol' the roller with the apex directed the same as thc roller rotates; there are two sets of these strips in the present case, 2 and 2" forming one set and 3 and 3" forming the other. The reverse spiral arrangement of these strips tends to stretch the goods laterally, thus preventing creases forming therein which would result from the selvages of the goods otherwise working toward 'each other. While it is .important to provide both rollers with yielding surface material, not only to insure against slippage but to prevent faulty measuring in eases where the goods is longitudinally corded or otherwise thickened at intervals (by allowing such thickened portions tosink into the rollers, as it were), it is also important to prevent local bulges from being developed by and between the rollers into creases. This is accomplished by forming the yielding material on one roller (as as), as steeply pitched ribs spaced from each other, whereby each rib when it encounters a bulge serves simply to divide the same without ironing it out into a crease; as to this feature of the invention regarded alone it is of course innnaterial whether the ribs or strips are spiral or not, though if they are Ispiral they would have the desired continuous instead of an intermittent action on the fabric.

So for as I am aware it is new in the art of measuring fabrics to pass the fabric between a measuring roller and a pressure roller both of which have yielding surfaces, whereby both lrollers yield to thickened portions in the fabric (especially those extending lengthwise thereof) so that the measurement taken is that of the body of the fabric and not ofthethickened portions and whereby further, the thickened portions are not pressed back into the goods at either side till thereof but retain their original relation to the body of the oods.

It will be un erstood that the ielding surface of roller w is circumferential.

It is an important feature of my invention that the table is adjustable around an axis substantially parallel with and transverse of the sheet of fabric, because this makes the apparatus adapted to the examination of various kinds of goods under varying 1i ht conditions, it being obvious that the ta le affords a background materially affecting the light it reflects according to its position relatively to the fabric. Usually the fabric will be so directed (Figs. 2 and 4) as not to be in face to` face contact With all of the nearer opposing surface of the table. When the bar fr is utilized to maintain a bend in the sheet (Fig. 4) the examiner Will have the advantage of a greater area of the sheet Within his convenient view and one part of this area, A', subject to a different light condition from that of the other B', since the latter is not backed by the table Whereas the former is; and this, in examining certain fabrics is of great value.

Having thus fully described my invention what I'claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An a paratus for use in examining a strip of abric including a frame, spaced means therein to maintain the fabric stretched and so as to be advanceable length- Wise of itself, and a table tiltable on an axis extending transversely of and substantially parallel with and opposite to the stretched part of the strip and independently of the saine to various angular positions relatively to said part of the strip.

2. An ap aratus for use in examining a strip of' fa ric including a frame, spaced means therein to maintain the fabric stretched and so as to be advanceable lengthwise of itself, and a table tiltable on an axis extending transversely of and substantially parallel with and opposite to the stretched part of the strip and independently of the same to various angular positions relatively to said part of the strip, said table having a straight-edge substantially parallel with said part of the strip arran ed to Wipe against said part When the table is tilted,

In testimony whereof I aix In signature.

ARTHUR C. lIASON. 

